Counting apparatus for the indicated output of piston-engines.



A. I. 0. BUTTOHER & L. W. LEHMANN. COUNTING APPARATUS FOR THE INDICATEDOUTPUT 0F PISTON ENGINES. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1909.

1 ,O39,250, Patented-Sept. 24, 1912. d )2 i Z,

companying sheets of NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANTON FRIEDRICH CLAUS BOTTCHER AND LUDWIG \iVILI-IELIVI. LEHMANN, OFHAM- BURG, GERMANY, GERMANY.

ASSIGNOBS TO THE FIRM OF H. MAIHAK, OF HAMBURG,

COUNTING APPARATUQ FOR- THE INDICATED OUTPUT OF PISTON-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. November 8, 1909.

Patented Sept. 24,1912. Serial No. 526,828.

To all 'ZF/LO'IIL if m up com-cm Be it known that we, ANTON FuinnmcnCLAUS Borrorinn and Luuwiu \Vinnemi LEHMANN, both subjects of the(lrerman limperor, and residents of Hamburg, Germany, have inventedcertain new and useful improvements in Counting Apparatus'for theindicated Output of Piston-Engines, of which the'following is aspecification,

The invention relates to improvements in counting apparatus for theindicated output of piston engines.

With the usual indi ator methods, in which diagrams are only taken fromtime to time it is only possible to determine the mean indicated outputof piston engines with sufficient accuracy when the fluctuations in thepower are inconsiderable. If the separate diagrams differ considerablyone from the other as is most generally the case in practice, theresults obtained by this method are very inaccurate. The object of thepresent invention is the continuous exact registration of the output orpower in a manner which can be observed instantly'at any time, by meansof an apparatus which can be fitted to any indicator and used therewithas desired.

The apparatus is diagrammatically illustrated together with an indicatorin the acdrawings in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation and Fig. 9 aplan. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a modified embodiment of thecounting apparatus adapted to operate an electromagnetic counter andreading device at a distance.

Fig. 4 is a plan of the modified apparatus in connection with anelectric battery and a remote counter and reading device. Fig. 5 is asection on the line A-B of Fig. 3. Fi 6 is a section on the line (l l)of Fig. :3 showing the contact device for making and breaking circuit.

Similar letters of reference refer to like parts throughout the figures.

a designates the upper part of an indicator, b the indicator drum. 0 thespring and d the upper end of the indicator piston rod. f is an uprightconstituting the support for the counting apparatus or power meter.

The counting apparatus or power meter itself consists of afriction-roller or wheel 7 fixed on a spindle a journaled in a. casingor framing h, revolutions of the. Wheel 9 or its spindle respectivelybeing transmitted by means of a worm In to the disks i, '5, i '5 of asuitable counter mechanism mounted in the framing h. The latter ispivotally connected with an arm of a bell crank lever 7.: with thefriction wheel 1] restingon the \.1p ')er end of the indicator drum 7).The bell crank lever is is rocked on its pivot n by the upand downmovements of the piston rod (Z connected by means of a link 0 to thebell crank lever it: which itself produces a radial displacement of thefriction wheel. g on the upper end face of the indicator drum 7). Bythis means the arc traversed is proportionate to the travel of thepiston of the engine on the one hand and to the indicated pressure onthe other hand; the reading of the arc traversed is thereforeproportionate to the power of the engine The adhesion pressure of thefriction wheel f/ maybe regulated by means of a sliding weight Zadjustable on an arm 7) of the framing h, or by means of a suitablespring (not shown) acting upon the arm p or upon the framing It itself.

The following conditions will shov how important the exactdetcrmimitionof the adhesion pressure of the friction wheel is for thepractical utility of the apparatus. To prevent the friction wheel fromsliding on its support (the upper end face of the drum 7)) the moment ofthe friction must. be smaller than the greatest angular acceleration ofthe friction wheel multiplied by the moment of inertia of the frictionwheel. The friction wheel 7 travels forward with the to and fro orreciprocating motion in the counting direction. that is to say, duringthe forward movement of the (-nginc it rolls through a given aretraveling: back through a part of this are during the succeeding returnmovement. W'ith an apparatus of the present. construction about fiverevolutions of the machine are required for-a complete rotation of thefriction wheel, accordingly if for example ten minutes were counted (theusual ipterval for taking diagrams) and the engine making 150revolutions, the error in reading the counter mechanism if one completerevolution of the friction wheel were neglected, would only amount toone-third per cent. If one complete revolution of the friction-wheel isneglected, then five revolutions of the engine, 0., five i As l of theplug '0. When the star-wheel. is to the friction wheel 9 completediagrams of the engine are neg= lected: suppose, now, the apparatus hasworked o er ten-minutes, the engine run-- ning with 150 revolutions perminute, then 1,500 diagrams must be registered by the opparatus. Theneglecting of live diagrams of these involves an error of 5/1500 -1 /3%.the apparatus is adapted for counting up to 10Q,000 it is able to countfor ten hours without interruption.

in the modification'shown and disclosed by Figs. 3 to'6 the spindle c isjournaled in a framing a having a somewhat altered form, the countingdisk mechanism v7 2' 11 i and the arm p being dispensed with. instead ofa fine worm m the spindle c is provided with a coarse worm m engaging astar-wheel g rotatable on an axle-journal r mounted right angles to thespindle e on the framing 72. by means of a plate a at tachedto theframing hut insulated therefrom by means of an chonite washer z[ Theplate a carries a teiuninal u the arrangement losing thus that thelatter is in constant electrio connection with the star-wheel gr. l'lhefree end face of the hub ofthe star wheel is provided with an ehoniteplug 1) having embedded a copper pin or: one end of the latter beingconnected with the star-wheel, the other end being flush with the endface tated the pin 'wpasses once at each full rotation. of "thestar-wheel a contact spring 00 resting against the end face of the plug7). The spring a: 'is in constant electric connection with a terminal yattached to the other side of the framing 7& but insulated therefrom byan ehonite plate 2. To the terminals u and are connected the ends of awire 2 forming an electric circuit includiug'a battery 8 and anelectromagnetic counter and reading device 4 of well known construction.

The function of the modified apparatus is as follows: Thefriction-wheel, though onercising a reciprocating rotary motion, gives apositive progress in the counting direction,

the angle, corresponding with th outstroke of the engine piston beingsuperior to that of the return stroke. The clearance of the teeth ofworm m and star wheel 9 is sutlicient, as only to transmit thedifference of the arcs of the reciprocating motion of the frictionwheel, thus only registering this difference. But when the frictionwheel travels forward in order to make a forward transportation the wormm acts upon the star wheel rotating it for a certain angle depending onthe largeness of the diagram, the ratio being 1 to 6, that is to say,when tions the star-Wheel has performed only one I has made revolu- Icomplete, revolution and made by means of the copper pin'w only once acontact with thespring a? in order to close the circuit 2 of the remotecounter and reading device l and to effect therchy in well known manneran operation of the said device for one figure. When the star wheelstarts its next step for the next full rotation the pin 20 leaves thespring :10 thereby opening the circuit again. The main advantage of thisconstruction is that the registrations of any number of indicators canbe transmitted to any place and the readings can be taken at-this placewhere the corresponding electromagnetic counter and reading deviccsareinstalled. Also in this construction are the swinging masses muchsmaller than in mechanical counter and reading devices.

We claim:

1. in an apparatus of the character dew scrihed; the combination withthe indicating drum, the calibrated spring and piston rod of an engineindicator; of a friction wheel contacting with and driven by said drum,a spindle on which said Wheel is mounted, means connecting'the spindleto the piston rod of the indicator to traverse said wheel and spindlewith respect to the drum and a registering mechanism operated from saidwheel.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with theindicating drum, the calibrated spring, and piston rod of an engineindicator; of a friction wheel maintained in frictional engagement withthe end of said drum, a frame in which said wheel is mounted, hell-cranklever to which said frame is pivoted and pivotally connected to thepiston rod, a registering mechanism carried by the franic to registerthe rotations of said wheel and means to vary the pressure of the wheelon the cylinder. Y

3. In an apparatus of the character de scribed, the combination with theindicating drum, the calibrated spring, and piston rod of an engineindicator; of a friction wheel maintained in frictional engagement withthe end of said drum, a frame in which said wheel mounted, a. hell-cranklever to which said frame is pivoted and pivotally connected to thepiston rod, .a registering mechanism carried lay the frame to registerthe rotations of said'wheel and an adjustable weight to vary thepressure of the wheel on the cylinder.

M ANTON FRIEDRICH CLAUS BUTTOHER.

LUDWIG WILHELM LEHMANN.

Vlitnesses 2 MAX A. LEMOKE, ERNEST H. L. llfilUMMhNI-IOFF.

